Ireland’s leading visitor attraction, Dublin’s Guinness Storehouse, has seen new audio systems installed as part of a new live music concept from John Brady Events (JBE), as well as new installations in two visitor zones. Featuring d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker systems, the work was planned using d&b’s ArrayCalc acoustic prediction software, and employ d&b’s xS-Series installation loudspeakers.
Having attracted more than 25m visitors, Guinness Storehouse is celebrating its 25th anniversary and was looking for innovative ways to enhance its visitor experience. The aim was to introduce a lively new element of culturally relevant activities. The question was, how to add to the mix on offer while maintaining the high quality of experience and avoiding the creation of bottlenecks?
The answer, provided by multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo’s regular entertainments consultancy JBE, was a new stop-off on the tour – a live entertainment hub that would offer a mix of traditional Irish music and dance, alongside with new talent from home and beyond.
The chosen site was the second floor’s Arrol Suite, previously reserved for private events and functions. Reimagined, this room can now keep up to 400 visitors entertained for 15 minutes before moving on to the next highlight of the Guinness Storehouse experience.
To bring it to life, JBE looked to a long-time collaborator, live sound specialist Acoustik. ‘In our brief for Acoustik we wanted the guests, no matter where they were in the room, to have an even sound quality, to help people to engage more closely with the performance areas.’ Brady explains.
This itself was a challenge. The building’s industrial roots presented a difficult acoustic environment, with wooden floor, tiled walls, plenty of glass, steel and concrete. ‘It’s just about the most acoustically unfriendly space you could come across,’ Brady says.
There were other requirements too: JBE’s vision was to have smaller, central performance platforms rather than the traditional end-on or side-on stage. Also, the hardware would have to be discreet, while still providing the desired performance impact.
Concurrently, Acoustik was delivering new d&b sound systems for two other areas on the fifth floor – Arthur’s Bar, the main bar space, and Market Street, a dining area that would also serve as a venue for private and corporate events. Containing the sound within each of these areas was also vital.
‘The controlled directionality of d&b loudspeakers is absolutely key,’ says Acoustik’s Will Fitzpatrick, who designed the system with Adam Faulkner. ‘Using the accurate predictive capabilities of d&b’s ArrayCalc software, we tried variations of different speakers in different positions, until we found the best solution.’
‘Through multi-source speaker systems, we created spaces where entertainment can happen as desired, without affecting the surrounding areas,’ he continues. ‘ArrayCalc simulated exactly what we actually achieved with the installation.’
For the largest space, the Arrol Suite, Acoustik chose d&b xS-Series: six 12S loudspeakers make up the main PA, with four 10S as delays. The low-end is provided by four 18S cabinets flown in the roof in all three spaces – ‘a real game changer’, notes Brady.
‘We’ve always used sub stacks either beside the stage or somewhere in the room, but we were never quite satisfied with the sound being even,’ Fitzpatrick says. ‘Now that we have the subs in the air, coverage is really good everywhere. The system keeps total control over the audio throughout the room.’
Arthur’s Bar and Market Street have been furnished with three 12S-D cabinets (the wider dispersion model) and three 12S Subs, and two 10S-D cabinets and two 12S Subs respectively. Amplification throughout is from d&b’s 10D installation amplifiers. Day-to-day operation of the system is made easy for non-technical staff via an iPad with d&b’s R1 software, offering a selection of presets for the Arrol Suite, as well as a reduction in level at the bar areas, allowing the staff to serve customers in a less noisy environment.
For JBE and Acoustik, this challenge has been well met: ‘We have huge confidence in d&b, and we couldn’t think of using anything else,’ says Fitzpatrick. ‘When this project arose, there was only one brand which we would trust to bring the design and the brief from concept to completion.’
‘It’s been immensely successful,’ adds Brady. ‘There’s a really nice, even sound in there, and that has been recognised by Guinness themselves.’
More: www.dbaudio.com